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Wednesday, December 21, 2011

Letters to Santa...with many uses!

Santa Express for Kids
I wish I could have posted this sooner, but this is a free app that I have used with both students and my own children. It's an app in which you can write/decorate letters to Santa. If parents/clinicians choose to do so, you can also follow up on Santa.com and the child will receive a return email. I haven't visited Santa.com yet. Anyway, I like this app, it has some nice features. You can choose the background for your letter, and many of the backgrounds are holiday-neutral, meaning there is a snow background. I had one group of students write a letter requesting snow, so we addressed the letter to a weatherman. We described the type of snow, the amount of snow, why we wanted the snow, and the time we wished our snow would arrive. So this app really can extend past Christmas if desired. I think the snow request was my favorite use for this app. Here are some screen shots from the app store. The snowflake paper is not pictured, but it is when you use the app. I will be using the snow themed letter after the holidays for some other describing and vocabulary goals. Other ways that I used the app prior to the holidays included:
--listing vocabulary associated with the holidays, then using each word in a sentence
--listing describing words (adjectives and adverbs) associated with the holidays and using each word in a sentence
--listing steps for wrapping a present or other holiday events..."How to" activities (How to make a snowman, How to make a snowball, How to make hot chocolate, How to wrap a present, How to decorate a tree, etc). I usually did the typing while the student listed the steps.